Kill Kill
by Vulpixels
Summary: Inspired by TWDG season 3 trailer released at E3. Clementine and AJ meet several of our favourite characters along the road, and eventually team up to form an eclectic group of survivors. Changes character focus each chapter, but of course begins with Clementine and Alvin Jr. (including characters from-but not limited to ;)- TWDG, LiS, TLOU, Lara Croft)
1. Clementine and AJ

**Chapter 1— Clementine & AJ**

Clementine was ahead by an arm's length on the narrow path, but the consistent crunch of feet on glass and gravel behind assured her that Alvin was close. The constant ebb and flow of the waves below produced an unrelenting swishing sound, almost as if some omnipresent being was shushing them as they climbed the small ridge together, the crashes of the waves as they crested and collapsed onto the sand so loud at first that they enveloped all other noises in their great swells. After a while, the ear began to tune out the swish of the sea, allowing the subtler sounds to creep into Clementine's ear: a tickle of movements in the grasses, the jostling of water in a nearby stream, the distant groans of the infected. Each was unsettling in its own way, but Clementine was so used to this constant discomfort that she wore the anxiousness like hand-me-down jacket. Familiar.

At least it was an afternoon of balmy warmth, the sunlight somewhat scattered by the clouds of dandelion seed and transparent-winged insects in the air. The day was close, thick and heavy, weighing down on her tired body with a resistance that made it difficult to move. The added weight of Kenny's death on her shoulders, like a fresh weeping wound, made each step feel impossible. It was like wading through soup.

"Clem?" AJ whined. Clementine turned on the cliff path once she heard his footsteps cease.  
"We're almost there buddy. I promise." She managed a weak smile in his general direction, although she couldn't meet his eyes. The truth was, Clementine had no idea where _there_ was. _There_ was just _not here_. AJ nodded, not quite believing Clementine's half-hearted lie, but accepting it for her sake. He tugged the baseball cap down further onto his head, squashing it onto the mess of curly hair that poked out from beneath.  
"We need to cut your hair again soon, Alvie." Clementine noted, trying to stay positive. She could feel the sunburn stinging on her face, her shoulders, her back.  
"Why do I have to have short hair all the time?" Alvin moaned. She hoped he wasn't about to have a tantrum.  
"Because," Clementine said, "a long time ago, when I was a little girl, a man called Lee told me I had to so I could survive better."  
"Who's Lee?" AJ asked, curiosity piqued. Clementine sighed, pushing some stray curls away from her face.  
"Lee was like… my papa. He was friends with our Kenny a long time ago. But I don't wanna talk about him okay? It makes me sad." AJ nodded solemnly.  
"It's okay. I know about papas. Like Papa Kenny. Papas make me sad too."

They continued to walk well into the afternoon, occasionally stopping for water or a moment of respite in the sanctuary of the shade. She was unsure where this path lead, but every once in a while, she would catch a glimpse of what looked like a lighthouse above the treetops. That was her goal for today: reach the lighthouse. Everything was riding on this— her life, _Alvin's_ life. Although they had started walking when the absolute blackness of the night began to fade to a silver-grey, Clementine feared that they were making no progress at all. She couldn't tell if they had gotten any closer to the lighthouse in the last five minutes or even the last hour. As the sun began to slip down the horizon, Clementine grew worried. If they didn't arrive before dark, there was no way they would survive the night. In a moment of panic, she grabbed AJ's hand and broke into a light jog up the path. _Can't be far now. Can't be far. Please, don't be far._

She almost cried with the relief of reaching the clifftop, but AJ's lip would always quiver when hers did, and he hadn't quite mastered the art of silent tears yet. They had made it by a hair— it seemed that just as the night began to envelop them, the trees began to thin, even small signposts and informative maps had begun to pop up. The lighthouse loomed above them, solemn, grey, yet inviting against the rapidly darkening night sky. There was the remnants of a bench, rotted and broken at the edge of the cliff, and a collection of rocks at the base of the incline that had perhaps once been a fire pit. The the faint, sweet smell of rotting seaweed drifting up from the bay below mingled with the silvery evening mist, and from the very lip of the precipice a wide expanse of sandy shore could be seen, curving round with the coastline and out of sight. A small shack painted white, roof entirely collapsed, lay crumbling at the foot of the lighthouse. It was covered in graffiti, the playful drawings and unskilfully splattered text a painful reminder of the past; graffiti was a crime and murder was unthinkable. _  
_  
Clementine knelt down, placing both hands on AJ's shoulders to get his full attention.  
"Go and hide next to that hut, okay? If anything comes near you, shout for me as loud as you can. I won't be long. Do _not_ move. Understand?"  
"Yeah." He whispered, his voice quavering slightly as he spoke. His eyebrows knotted together in worry, but he regarded Clementine with the kind of unconditional, boundless trust that only a child was capable of.  
"That's my brave little man." Clem reassured him, stroking his cheek before straightening up. Alvin cautiously made his way to the shack, and crouched against a crumbling half-wall, his tiny hands balled into tiny shaking fists.

Slowly, Clementine turned to the door, knocking gently on the rusted metal. When there was no reply, she turned the handle with a creak. Paint flaked away into her palm as she removed it from the doorknob, the hinges creaking ominously as it opened. Gingerly, she put one foot over the threshold, hand on her gun, when she heard a distinct _click_ from above. Her head snapped up, and immediately she was met with a flash of metal and a pair of steady blue eyes over the barrel of a loaded gun.  
"Back the _fuck up._ " The woman hissed, her voice low, threatening. She was stood in the shadow of the stairwell, her features unreadably grey. Clementine raised her hands slowly, in surrender.  
"We don't want trouble—"  
" _We?"_ She spat venomously.  
"Please, he's just a kid. I swear, it's just him and me." Clementine pleaded, glancing furtively at AJ who was crouching as he was told, oblivious to the fact that she was being held at gunpoint. The woman's steely gaze flickered for a moment, her eyes momentarily softening, before her expression closed in on itself again.  
"What do you want?" She hissed.  
"We just need shelter, just for one night. Please. He'll die without me. We'll both die out there. Please." Clementine was begging now, trying her hardest to keep the tears that were brimming in her eyes from spilling onto her cheeks. The mixture of her exhaustion, stress, and near-constant paranoia formed a dangerous cocktail of emotion that she had held in for too long. The loss of Kenny had hit her hard, and AJ harder. She couldn't be weak. Not now. She had to look after him now.  
"How can I trust you?" The woman inquired from the shadows, although her voice had lost its edge.  
"Please, I wouldn't put his life at risk like this if I didn't have to." Clem's voice broke at the end of her sentence, and from his hiding place, Alvin heard her distress. He came rushing up to her like a bullet from a gun.  
"Clemmie!" He shrieked, throwing himself in front of her with a conviction that both instilled fear and pride in Clementine. He glowered at the woman above with too much hatred for such a small boy.  
"Don't make my Clemmie cry." He shouted, although his lip was quivering. To his credit, he didn't move away from Clementine as he began to sob. The woman was taken aback, her gun lowering slowly but her eyes remaining trained on the intruders.  
"Fine," she growled, "come in. And bolt the fucking door behind you." She waited for both Clementine and AJ to pass her before turning and marching up the stairs herself, taking several steps at a time. Clementine struggled to keep pace, especially with AJ clinging to her hand like a comfort blanket.

There was another metal door at the top of the coiling spiral staircase, although it was notably less rusted. Clementine reached it after the woman, and pushed it open with a grunt, AJ still clutching her hand. She stepped inside, and in the dim light Clementine could now make out the woman's features. Her face was sharp, pointed, but somehow soft, with slanting blue eyes that made the subject of her glare shrink away. She looked tired, bags under her eyes like bruises, the corners of her mouth turned downwards into a permanent scowl. Clementine didn't pay much attention to this, however. Who _wasn't_ exhausted in this world? Her hair, stuffed under a black beanie even in the sweltering heat, was barely visible. Strands of silvery-blue and lilac hair poked out from underneath the wool. It looked like fading dye— yet another reminder of the way things used to be.

The woman shrugged off her jacket, revealing a bright tattoo curling around her right arm as she sat down on an overturned crate. The room itself was littered with them, some full of blankets, some with bottles of water. Broken glass was swept into a large plastic bucket where a window and shattered, cardboard taped haphazardly over the gap left in the glass. The half-walls were painted a chalky white that left a fine dust on anything that touched them, including the small pile of bedding that was pushed against the curved wall, a backpack and a half-empty bottle of some kind of alcohol. It was almost comfortable.

"I'm Chloe. Mi casa su casa and all that. But seriously, touch any of my stuff and I will break your fucking arms." She said gruffly. Clementine began to wonder if they would've been better finding somewhere else, feeling the uneasiness radiating from Chloe as if it was tangible.  
"I'm Clementine," she said anyway, "and this is Alvin Junior. We call him AJ for short."  
"We?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow, "So there's _more_ of you?"  
"I—" Clementine began, but her sentence was cut off abruptly as she bit back a sob. With looking after AJ, she hadn't really had time to mourn Kenny. It had been building up for a week now. Chloe looked confused, wary, defensive as she waited for Clementine's answer.  
"Papa Kenny went to see Katjaa and Duck." Alvin muttered quietly, parroting what Clementine had told him, despite the fact that he didn't know who these people were. Chloe frowned.  
"He just abandoned you guys? You're fucking _kids,_ for God's sake—"  
"Kenny died." Clementine snapped, swiping her hand across her face and looking up with a glower.  
"Oh."  
"Yeah. Also, don't swear in front of Alvin."  
"It's my house."  
"He's _my kid._ " Clementine scowled.  
"Aren't you a little… young to have a kid this age?"  
"I'm 16. And he's not my son. I just look after him." Clementine seemed unwilling to pursue the subject, so Chloe let it drop. An uncomfortable silence hung over their heads as the evening wore on.

Night had fallen quickly, the sun slipping down the sky and behind the horizon, surrendering to the dim light of the moon. The blackness, seemingly impenetrable, was littered with thousands of stars, dashed and divided across the night sky. There was a ring around the moon, a pale, yellowy reflection of light in the clouds, and Clementine remembered reading once that it meant a sign of trouble not far behind— not that was ever too distant now. Sometimes, she could feel the impending doom following her like a shadow: omnipresent, ceaseless, implacable.

"Are you… alone? I mean, do you have a group, or…" Clementine trailed off, gazing out across the bay even though there wasn't much to see in the all-encompassing darkness. AJ lay curled beside her in a pile of blankets, sleeping as deeply as he had in weeks. The small patch of moonlight filtering through the grimy glass and onto his face didn't seem to bother him.  
"We… yeah. I have a group." The candlelight flickered, casting shadows across Chloe's face until her expression was unreadable. They were both whispering, partly in an effort not to rouse Alvin from his slumber, and partly because neither of them wanted to shatter the fragile peace and tranquility that the still night offered.  
"What happened?" Clementine probed cautiously.  
"I— ah, fuck— why am I telling you this? Why should I tell you this?" Chloe turned her face away, her voice cold, her cheek glistening in the flickering orange light with tear tracks. Clementine pretended not to notice.  
"You don't have to tell me."  
"No, no, it's fine," she sniffed, swiping away her tears with her arm, "I was with my… uh… partner. Her name was Max. We got separated about a month ago and I'm pretty sure she's— anyway. I found Alex and David maybe three or four weeks back. They're out hunting for supplies right now, but they should be back soon." She said, glancing outside in a way that told Clementine that _soon_ meant _four hours ago._  
"Yeah. They're probably hiding out somewhere safe for the night." She offered with a grimace, neither of them believing her words.  
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." Chloe said with a finality, convincing herself that this was the absolute truth. "I'll take the first watch, y'know, in case they come back later tonight. You should sleep." Chloe said, smiling halfheartedly at Clementine in the dim light.  
"Ok. Thanks, Chloe. Wake me up when we need to switch." Clem replied, pulling back the covers around AJ to slip between the blankets. His eyes fluttered at the sudden drop in temperature, but Clementine shushed him gently, a placing a warm hand on his head. He slowly drifted back to sleep, his breathing becoming shallow and even again. She hoped he was having nice dreams.

When Clementine awakened, the sun was still resolutely below the horizon; the moon was low, almost dipping below the curve of the earth as if the sea were about to swallow it whole. She felt the heady pull of her dreams as she broke free of the clutches of sleep, slowly remembering the events of the previous day. Chloe sat motionless on the overturned crate, almost exactly as Clementine had left her. She was rigid, static, her shoulders hunched with defeat and sorrow, but still stubbornly waiting, loyal as a dog.  
"Chloe," Clementine whispered, propping herself up on her elbow, "why didn't you wake me?" Chloe started, surprised by the sudden speech after hours of mind-numbing silence, but she quickly recovered.  
"You looked like you needed the rest, kid."  
"I'm _not_ a kid." Clementine scowled, somehow managing to coax out a weak chuckle from her new friend.  
"I guess I am only three years older, huh?" Chloe teased, smiling like she was afraid that a grin too wide would crack her face. Clementine was saddened by this. Chloe seemed like the type of person that used to smile a lot more before the outbreak— those people were few and far between now. Even rarer were the ones that somehow still managed to crack jokes.  
"You should sleep a little. I'll wake you if Alex and David get back, ok?" Clementine said, standing up slowly so as not to disturb AJ. Chloe simply nodded, finally surrendering to the exhaustion that had taken hold of her body. She leant back against the wall, closed her eyes, and was asleep within minutes.

It was easily nine in the morning, at least, when Clementine heard a feeble knock at the iron door below. Normally, she wouldn't have noticed such a subtle sound, but her ears had become accustomed to the silence of the lighthouse, and even barely audible noises were enough to set her on edge. She shook Chloe awake as gently as possible, but their was an urgency in her voice.  
"Chloe." she hissed, shaking harder when Chloe simply groaned in response. " _Chloe—"  
_ The knock sounded again, louder this time. Chloe jolted awake.  
"They're back. Holy shit." She got up quickly, taking the steps three at a time, and reached the bottom within the minute.  
"Alex, David—" She began as the door swung open, but her sentence caught in her throat once she processed what she was seeing. In the doorway stood a young woman, no older than 25, covered in blood. She had short, black hair that curled softly, streaked with grey despite her age, and large, brown eyes that were somehow both strikingly passionate and expressionless at the same time. Her jaw was sharp, her chin pointed, and her mouth was set in a hard line. From what Clementine could tell, she was on the verge of breaking down completely.  
"Alex…" Chloe said softly, bewildered. Alex stepped inside the lighthouse and bolted the door behind her before allowing herself a moment of weakness. She tilted her head back against the rusting metal an closed her eyes, taking a deep, steadying breath. When she opened her eyes again, she was disconcertingly serene. She met Chloe's worried gaze with an unblinking stare of her own.  
"We were swarmed. A whole fucking _horde_ of those _things_ , I— I tried, we tried, we almost made it but then—" the calm she had possessed a moment ago had evaporated.  
"Then?" Chloe asked gently, already knowing the answer.  
"Then David… he tripped over this goddamn floorboard, and they got him. Right on the ankle. He kicked them off and we carried on running, but— oh _God—_ we carried on running and we made it to safety, fianlly, _finally_ I remember thinking, but I didn't even fucking know. He told me to shoot him. Told me I couldn't leave him like this, that I couldn't let him turn. I had to… I had to shoot my fiancé in the _head._ They're coming, Chloe, they followed me. They're gonna kill us all now." Alex finished. She had descended to tears by the end of her retelling, and let them drip off her chin freely. Chloe was unresponsive. For a few moments, the only sound was Alex's echoing sobs, bouncing off of the walls as if there were four of her, weeping in unison. She slid to the floor, hands threaded in her hair, shoulders shaking. It took a moment, but Chloe snapped out of her stupor and emerged from her brief introspection an entirely different person from the one Clementine had previously seen.  
"Alex." She said flatly. Alex looked up, large eyes bloodshot, tears still streaming down her cheeks.  
"What?" She half yelled, half sobbed, furious at Chloe's intrusion.  
"Get up." Chloe demanded dispassionately. Alex's expression flickered from hurt to anger in a matter of seconds. She stood up, but the unadulterated rage emanating from her body in waves made Clementine shrink back uncomfortably. Alex had not yet noticed her, or hadn't cared enough to ask.  
"You don't fucking know what this is _like_ , Chloe. You don't know what this kind of loss is like!" She shouted. Chloe flinched. Outside, the groans of the oncoming walkers drew nearer, attracted to the noise they were creating.  
"You think that I don't know," she muttered, her voice low, threatening, "you think none of us know. Everyone has lost someone, Alex! Every single _fucking_ _person!_ Don't think you're special because your boyfriend died. Guess what? So did my girlfriend! Guess what? So did my _mom!_ Guess what? So did Clementine's _whole family!_ " Chloe shouted. Alex glanced at Clementine, noticing her for the first time since she arrived. "Her whole family died, and she's just a kid. You're not the only one who has to suffer. Get it together. We have to get out of here." Chloe finished coldly. She was strangely unsympathetic, but Clementine assumed it was just how she dealt with loss. It seemed to help Alex somehow. Her rage was fleeting, and her shoulders slumped in a mixture of defeat and acceptance.  
"You're right. We have to go. I'm sorry I got mad, I know you were just trying to protect us all—" Alex began, beginning to cry again, but Chloe cut her off.  
"Now isn't the time for apologies," She muttered, starting up the metal staircase, "I'm sorry too though." She tacked on quickly. The infected had begun to gather outside, pounding at the door. The bolt creaked.  
"Upstairs. Now." Chloe ordered. Alex and Clementine didn't argue.

When they reached the upper room, AJ was awake and frantically searching for Clementine. The pure relief he felt at the sight of her was visible, and he ran up to her as if she had been gone for months rather than mere minutes. He sat on the floor beside Clementine's overturned crate cross-legged, holding her hand and listening avidly to the grown up conversation going on.  
"I'm Clem, this is AJ. I guess we're part of your group for now, but it was only meant to be a temporary thing."  
"I'm Alex." She nodded in reply as she spoke. She had somehow found it within herself to hold it together until they were safe, and Clementine was almost impressed by her emotional detachment.  
"I vote we wait it out." Chloe said, quickly turning the conversation back to the problem at hand.  
"I second that," added Alex, "there's no way we're getting through a group that large in one piece. I can't watch someone else die, especially now that we have a kid in the group." AJ's eyes darted from one girl to the next at his mention, suddenly interested in this Alex lady. Gripping his hand tighter, Clementine spoke up.  
"I know a way we can get out now. If you trust me." She said, gaze flickering between Chloe and Alex as she spoke. Chloe leaned into the circle, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.  
"How?" She asked.  
"You're not gonna like it."

 **A/N:** **Hope you enjoyed that! I'm really loving writing this story, so I'm excited to finally share it with you all. This is literally all of my favourite characters in an apocalypse setting and I'm not even sorry. If you have any character requests I will happily do them but they will most likely die immediately unless I already planned for them to fit into the plot.**

 **I don't have a lot of frequent readers so if you know me, hi again, and if you don't I hope that you'll stick around. Please don't be mean to me! My writing isn't always The Shit (as much as I like to think it is) so I can handle constructive criticism but if ur rude I might cry :( I am a fragile little flower do not crush my delicate self-esteem thank u**

 **Sorry for any spacing errors/punctuation errors. When I copy/paste this from Pages to the work text box, I lose all of the formatting including paragraph breaks, new lines, italics etc. If there is a huge wall of text with no paragraphs, it was probably a mistake :)**  
 **Until next time ;)**  
 **-Vulpixels xoxo**


	2. Alex

Chapter 2— Alex

Alex's face was pale as they crept down the lighthouse steps, making as little noise as possible. She couldn't believe how easy it was to convince Chloe to just wander into a herd of walkers, and Clementine was right, neither of the m liked her plan— but Chloe was willing to play along, and Alex didn't want to be left behind. After weighing up her options, she concluded that she could die either way, and that she'd rather go down fighting. David would never forgive her if she let the others blindly walk to their deaths like this without even trying to help them through it. She didn't trust Clementine, despite the fact that she had a kid with her. She supposed it might have been something to do with how young she was, how ruthless she could be. The combination of the two was deeply unsettling.

"Okay. Here goes nothing." Chloe took a deep breath before unlatching the bolt as quietly as the rusting metal would allow. The door slowly swung open, attracting the attention of one or two walkers. Against all instinct, Alex watched as they stumbled closer and closer, forcing herself not to slam the door and run back up to the fleeting safety of the circular room. Clementine acted quickly— a machete to the head and the bolt was latched again, leaving the second walker outside of the lighthouse. The room began to fill with the repulsive scent of rotting flesh, the sweet, bloody scent of the festering walker clinging to her skin as Clementine sliced. First, she smothered the kid in the black, foul-smelling blood, and then herself. AJ was surprisingly calm about it, which led Alex to believe that they had done this before. She shuddered at the thought. Clementine stepped back from the body, and the others followed suit; the clothes were smeared with walker blood and weapons were drawn.

"Do not group together. Move slowly. Whatever you do, _don't run._ " Clementine said seriously, grabbing AJ's hand in her own before unbolting the door a second time and stepping into the throng of walkers. Alex glanced at Chloe before stepping outside herself. She was shaking, her heart pounding, unable to comprehend how she was willingly throwing herself into the most dangerous place she could be— yet somehow managing to do it anyway.

There was more than any of them had expected. The noise of the walkers had drawn scores out from the trees since they had counted in the lighthouse— there had to be at least forty by now. She tried to do as Clementine said, but blindly putting her faith into a child left her feeling naive, vulnerable. She hated it.

Staying away from the others went against every instinct, each breath she took screaming for her to run, her whole body tensed and ready like a coiled spring. She shuffled, she stumbled, she even groaned a little for authenticity— however she quickly realised that this was a mistake after several walkers turned at the foreign noise. Alex couldn't help the way her breath caught in her throat at the sight of their rotting faces and gaping, hungry mouths turned towards her. She couldn't ignore the way her feet began to itch and her legs began to burn with the desire to bolt, but she remained focused on acting brain-dead, and reminded herself to have a little more faith in Clementine from now on. _Almost there. Almost there. I can do it, I will do it. For David._

When she saw a break in the crowd, the thinning of bodies towards the edges of the herd, she almost sighed with relief before quickly forcing herself to focus. _We're not out of the woods yet,_ she thought, barely suppressing a yelp as she stumbled over a fallen tree branch. A walker turned towards her, and then another. And another.

 _Fuck._

She held her breath, not stopping her agonisingly slow walk to safety, praying to every god and deity that ever existed that they would leave her alone. After a few moments, they did— and upon reaching the safety of the trees, Alex allowed herself a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing to walk through the mud. Thankfully, the leaves were still green and clinging to the branches of the trees above with conviction, minimising the rustling she made as she came crashing through the undergrowth. It was only when she reached relative safety that she realised the rest of her group was nowhere in sight.

 _Double fuck._

Alex continued to walk in silence, not daring to call out in case of stray walkers. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could feel it at each and every pulse point in her body; each vein had it's own tiny heart, beating along with the rapid thrumming in her chest. She had never been alone. There was always David— before that at least she had her brother, and they were always bouncing from group to group. She longed for the sight of another human so much that it began to manifest itself as a physical ache, settling in her heart. Her mounting anxiety made itself a home there, slotting perfectly beside the grief that was lodged somewhere between her ribs.

"Hello?" A voice called, frail and weak and raspy, though distinctly female. Her accent caught Alex by surprise, the rounded vowels snapping Alex out of her stupor, shaken out of her self-pity by the unexpected sound.  
"Show yourself." She called cautiously, defensively to the surrounding area. Her head whipped around, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise, feeling exposed.  
"Please help me." the voice called again, so dejected and weak that Alex felt what she could only describe as sympathy— and emotion she had thought was dormant inside her. The awakening of her humanity overshadowed her fear and distrust like the sun; it couldn't be contained.  
"Where are you?" She asked, trying not to frighten the woman, biting back the fierceness in her words.  
"I"m… I'm here, in the leaves. On the floor, I— I can't move, please—"  
"I'm coming." Alex said, moving towards the sound of her voice. The woman began to sob quietly, a string of unintelligible words and thank-yous spilling from her mouth.

Alex wasn't sure what to expect, but she wasn't prepared for what she saw. Behind a large oak tree, amongst the mud and few fallen leaves lay a girl, that much she already knew. Her clothes were torn to shreds, her long hair matted and filthy with mud. Her eyes were empty, hollow, but large and brown and impossible to look into. An angry red cut slashed across her right cheekbone, and one above her left eye trickled blood down the side of her face, pooling in the roots of her hair. She had a small, upturned nose, and a smattering of freckles across the bridge that could also have been dirt, it was too dim in the shadows to tell. Her lips, though full, were cracked, swollen, tinged blue with the chill from the earth that had settled in her bones; her legs were bare, covered in striking purple and blue brusies, snaking up her thighs and beneath her shirt. She had been crying, that much Alex could tell, for her tears had left tracks in the dirt on her face, thin flashes of silver-white skin so deathly pale that Alex might have thought she was dead had she not spoken. With each laboured breath her chest rose and fell, but this was her only movement.

"How long have you been lying here like this?" Alex asked, kneeling beside the girl who seemed no older than twenty. She did not respond, her eyes searching Alex's with a mixture of fear and thankfulness. Alex could only meet her gaze for a second, each slow blink more unnerving than the last, her piercing stare making Alex feel entirely transparent.  
"What happened to you?" Alex half-whispered, gently lifting the girl's upper torso to allow her to rest on Alex's knees. Alex cradled her head gently, trying to ignore the stickiness of congealed blood on her fingers. The girl began to sob again, each shuddering breath wracking her whole body.  
"Shhh, shhh, it's okay. You don't have to tell me right away. What's your name?" She asked gently. The girl spoke quietly, her voice hoarse.  
"Via. My name's Via." she managed to croak. Alex noticed the bruises around her neck, but decided not to bring them up.  
"Via, huh? I'm Alexandra. Alex, really. This might be a dumb question but… Can you stand? We _really_ have to get out of here." The girl hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. "What if I help you?" Alex offered, gently pulling Via up to a sitting position. Via sucked in a breath through her teeth, a hiss of pain as she moved.  
"Sorry." Alex whispered, gritting her teeth, but the girl shook her head.  
"Thank you."

With Alex's help, Via had eventually managed to stand, and together the pair hobbled to what was presumably once a scout hut, hidden deep within the forest. Rotting wood surrounded them, the smell clinging to the moth-eaten furnishings of the tiny cabin, but neither of them minded. The room was littered with old newspapers and a handful of dead leaves, the floor of the shack creaking in protest at every step they took. In the far right corner of the room lay some sort of dead animal, the skin leathery and black, although patches of reddish-brown fur still clung to the rotting body. The smell went almost unnoticed by the pair, so used to the cloying and ever-present scent of decay that they barely even registered it. After moving a heavy dresser in front of the door, Alex let out a breath. The relative safety of the cabin lifted a weight off her shoulders, and allowed her to focus on Via entirely. Alex laid her carefully onto the slightly damp couch— it was the kind more commonly found in a doctor's office, or a dental waiting room in days gone by, with scratchy fabric that was obscenely blue. It offered a strange sort of comfort to the two of them.  
"Okay— first we gotta get this blood off, and the mud. I think I saw a river close by, we can make it there if I help you." Alex said, eyes surveying the damage to Via's fragile body. Via looked so small laid out on the couch, breakable, and all Alex wanted to do was protect her. Via smiled weakly up at her.

"I hope this doesn't make you uncomfortable, but I think you gotta take your clothes off." Alex mumbled, blushing slightly, beneath the layer of walker blood and mud splattered on her cheeks. Via couldn't tell, simply nodding in response. They were at the bank of the small river cutting through the hillside, and Alex was waist deep in the water, supporting Via as she attempted to wash herself.  
"I- I can't move too much, my ribs, I think—"  
"It's okay. I got it." Alex cut in, moving closer and removing her shirt. She kept her head turned slightly away, and averted her gaze as much as possible as she peeled the fabric away from Via's skin. Via flinched away from her touch, her breathing quickening. She then reached to unhook Via's bra, moving slowly so that Via had time to object. Her muscles jumped as Alex's fingers grazed her back, turning her head away and clenching her jaw, but made no attempt to stop her.  
"Is this okay?" Alex asked before proceeding.  
"Yes." Via muttered, eyes closed. Alex let the article slide down Via's shoulder before passing it to her.  
"Can you hold on to this for me?" Alex asked. Via nodded, reaching to grab her shirt as well, but Alex moved it away.  
"This isn't even a shirt anymore," Alex said, examining at the tattered fabric in her right hand with deep concentration, "I have a spare in my pack. Can I toss it?"  
Via agreed, shivering as the breeze touched her bare skin, goosebumps rising all over her body. Alex released the shirt and watched it float away before turning her attention back to the other girl.  
"Do you trust me?" Alex asked. Via nodded, although her eyes were wary. "Lie on your back. I won't let yo sink. We need to wash your hair."  
Via took a steadying breath before ducking into the water and floating like Alex suggested. She could feel Alex's grip on her shoulder, firm but not painful. Alex let her left hand float on the surface for a second, before combing her fingers through the long, brownish locks. Neither of them spoke— it was a comfortable silence that settled over them as Alex's fingers worked through each knot with care. She tried not to look too closely at Via's body, but it was so shockingly pale in the afternoon light that it was almost impossible to look elsewhere. It was hard not to notice the smattering of purple and blue across her chest, throat, breasts— distinctly hand-shaped ugly bruises that marred Via's otherwise beautiful skin. Anger flared deep inside Alex's stomach as she thought of ways in which they could've gotten there, and before long, her gentle brushing grew rough. She had only known this girl for mere hours, but already she felt fiercely protective of her, and the thought of someone deliberately hurting her, another human even— it angered her to the point that she was almost shaking. After a few minutes, her hair had turned from a muddy brown to a golden blonde, and Alex gently pushed her back upright. By this point, Via was shivering, lips tinged blue even in the summer heat.  
"Okay. Time to get out."

Soon they were back inside the hut, and Via's shivering had ceased, her lips fading back to a rosy pink. With the grime gone, she was actually quite beautiful. Her 'freckles' had disappeared, apparently only splattered mud, and her hair was almost knot free, hanging in wet tendrils to just above her waist. Her face, no longer obscured by a layer of dirt, was pale and slim, her eyes large and doe-like, her skin unblemished aside from the cuts below her eye and on her forehead. She had a dimple, Alex noticed, that appeared on her left cheek when she smiled— a rare occurrence.  
"Aha! There you are." Alex exclaimed, triumphantly brandishing a pale yellow tank top and some greying denim jeans. She almost tossed them to Via, before remembering that she had limited mobility. She crossed the room and began gently helping Via into the soft shirt. Via smiled gratefully as she wriggled into the clothing.  
"You don't talk much, huh?" Alex noted, smiling down at her new friend. Via shook her head.  
"That's okay. I talk a lot. Now, let's get you patched up a little, okay?" Alex began to work carefully, cleaning and dressing each wound with care. When Alex reached the cuts on Via's face, she held her breath, as if she was afraid that Via might collapse like a house of cards if she breathed too hard. She was so close that she could feel heat radiating from the girl's body.  
"How are you so good at this?" Via whispered. Alex stopped cleaning the gash on her cheek to meet Via's gaze, inches apart.  
"I was training to be a nurse when all of this—" she gestured to the world around her "—happened." Via smiled. as Alex went back to work.  
"I was here to go to college. My uncle, he was so rich, he paid for my tuition because he had no kids of his own. I stayed with him up in Seattle and I went to school there— we had fun. I have no idea what happened to him, or to my parents back in England."  
"The threshold has been broken," Alex joked, "she speaks!"  
"I'm only quiet because my throat hurts." Via frowned, but there was a playful glint in her eye. Alex, however, grew serious.  
"I'll bet. There's been some damage to your windpipe, and it will probably take a few weeks to heal. What happened to you?" Alex asked quietly, her voice gentle. Via hesitated.  
"It was walkers. They got me. "  
"No walker did that." Alex said softly, but she din't press the subject. Via looked down at her hands, clasped in her lap, and neither of them spoke as Alex finished.

Day bled into night, then back into day again. Alex had insisted that they stay at least until Via could walk on her own, and so that morning she cleared away the animal carcass and the leaves, reinforced the windows and doors, pilfered supplies from a nearby car: busying herself to distract from thoughts of David. She hadn't slept in at least thirty hours, and eventually her movements grew sluggish and tired, especially after a close call with some walkers about half a mile from their cabin. Figuring upon her return it would be safe enough lying down for a mid-afternoon nap, she hurried back, encouraging Via to wake her once night fell. The couch had never seemed more inviting, but she insisted that she slept on the floor because Via would never heal properly lying on the slightly damp wood. Although she feared what she might dream, Alex surrendered herself to sleep regardless, the inky blackness of exhaustion quickly taking hold. She fell into a dreamless slumber, sprawled on the floorboards.

A wrinkle appeared between Alex's brows upon awakening. A gentle tickle on her cheek had broken through to her unconscious mind, nose scrunching up at the feeling like a rabbit's might. Still sluggish with sleep, she looked up to what she thought was a mirror at first; another pair of dark brown eyes staring back at her. Quickly she realised that it was Via, and that the gentle tickle she felt was the ends of her long hair. It hung in waves, cascading over her shoulders as she smiled down at Alex. The bright morning light streaming in from the window lit Via from behind like a halo, her face pleasant and passive.

Alex blinked, taking a moment to register that she was lying on Via's lap before sitting up. Her movements were feline as she stretched, yawning and shielding her eyes against the glaring sun.  
"Have you been sitting like this for long? It's not good for your ribs." Alex chided.  
"No." Via said, a hint of guilt flashing across her face. Alex stared at her with scrutiny. "Only since you started crying." Via conceded with either concern or understanding— Alex couldn't tell. She became aware of the familiar wetness on her cheeks and swiped it away before speaking again.  
"What time is it?" She asked around a yawn. Via shrugged.  
"Just a little after noon maybe?" Her voice was still hoarse, but better than it had been a day ago, the bruises around her neck fading to an ugly green.  
"I told you to wake me at nightfall!" Alex protested half-heartedly, although she felt better for the rest.  
"You needed to sleep. I would have woken you if I needed to." Via replied. Alex hummed, unsatisfied with her answer, but she didn't argue. She thanked Via with a smile, pushing some stray curls out of her eyes. "You know," she said pensively, "I was thinking last night that we might need to cut your hair." Via's eyes widened, and she shrunk back from Alex as if she was already brandishing a pair of scissors.  
"No!" She protested, grabbing fistfuls of the blonde waves in an attempt to protect them.  
"It would be safer." Alex argued, shuffling closer to her on the floor. Via shook her head violently.  
"No, no no no. No."  
"Fine. At least tie it up?" Alex compromised, tilting her head to the side with her customary grin. Via paused for a moment, considering her options. She mimicked Alex's movements, tilting her head to the side and smirking.  
"Do you know how to french braid?"

They sat cross-legged on the floor of the cabin as Alex tugged her fingers through Via's hair. It had grown knotted and tangled with sleep, and Alex was becoming increasingly frustrated with every tug.  
"Are you _sure_ we can't just cut it off?" She pressed, collecting the hair into two roughly even probably-good-enough sections.  
"Yes. Hop to it, Lexie."  
"Don't call me that."  
"Sorry." There was a beat of silence, and then a sigh. Alex began to twist her hair, before letting it fall from her hands.  
"Via?" Alex said, cautiously defeated. Via hummed a reply, twisting around to meet her gaze.  
"I have no idea what I'm doing." declared Alex seriously. Via's face was expressionless for a moment, leaving Alex wondering if she should explain or apologise. She was halfway to a sorry when Via descended into giggles. Peals of laughter filled the room, the sound was clear and sweet— like a bell, bouncing from the walls. Alex couldn't quite put her finger on why, but her face split into a grin, a strange, forgotten feeling swelling in her chest. Via continued to chuckle for a few minutes, occasionally stopping to take a deep breath and collect herself before remembering the moment and losing her composure yet again. Alex watched, half amused, half bewildered with an affectionate smile. She was about to laugh when she remembered David, and immediately felt guilty for even thinking of happiness with the shadow of his death looming over her. Via sensed the quick change in emotion, felt Alex's body stiffen behind her, felt her grip tighten on her long hair. Her laughter ceased.  
"It's okay. I'll teach you." said Via quietly.

"I got this. I got this. _"_ Alex mumbled to herself, tongue sticking out in concentration. Her eyes were narrowed, focused as she followed each of Via's instructions with care.  
"Okay. The hard part is over now. Just braid normally."  
"Uh… yeah. Normally." Alex repeated, reaching a hand up to her cropped hair, messy black waves falling no further than her shoulder.  
"You know how to do that right?" Via teased.  
"No, but I am filled with determination." Alex muttered to herself, focusing on the task at hand.  
"Okay Frisk. Whatever you say." Via smiled, recognising the reference. Alex's eyes widened in surprise.  
"You— what? I'll be honest, I didn't have you pegged as an Undertale kinda gal."  
"I'm not. I played it, I liked it enough but… too much hype." Via said decisively. Alex nodded firmly in agreement.  
"Exactly. God, the fans were fucking _hardcore._ I miss games so much. Know what makes me sad? All the stuff that they announced at E3 that we never got to play."  
"I went to E3 in the last year!" Via recalled nostalgically. Although it was less than a decade ago, it felt a whole world away from the present. A different century entirely. She turned to face Alex, pulling the unfinished braids over her shoulders as she did so.  
"No way! Me too. I used to actually do some work for this gaming channel on YouTube when I was nineteen, where I would get to interview people like Troy Baker."  
"No fucking way," Via said in disbelief, eyes sparkling, "Was he tall?"  
"Yup. But everyone's tall to me." She joked, gesturing to her tiny stature with a grin.  
"Fair point." Via laughed. The conversation lulled, and a comfortable silence fell over the two. Alex found herself unable to meet Via's gaze for long, her brown eyes filled with a combination of admiration and affection upon the discovery of their shared interest, too open, too honest, too trusting. She was acutely aware of Via's gaze on her, but she didn't expect the soft hand on her chin, tilting her face up. For a second, she thought that Via might kiss her— which to her great surprise, elicited both guilt and a flicker of excitement, the heady pull of desire. But Via didn't kiss her, to her intense relief-slash-disappointment. Instead, she studied Alex's face with her searching gaze. Still shaken, Alex jerked away.  
"What are you doing?" she murmured defensively, confusion furrowing her brows.  
"You said you did interviews with Troy Baker right?" Via sounded slightly apologetic as she continued. "He was my first crush, I saw every one of them. Twice. I thought I might recognise you but… nope." she shrugged. Alex released a breath she had been subconsciously holding.  
"Shame you missed out on all this," Alex joked, wiggling her eyebrows in an attempt to cover the sudden awkwardness, "I had a pretty big fanbase you know? Podcast and everything."  
"You must just have a pretty forgettable face."  
"Hey!" Alex exclaimed in mock offence. Via smiled sweetly. "You're so mean. You look all innocent and lovely— but don't judge a book, am I right?" Alex teased.  
"'Butter wouldn't melt.'. That's what my gramma used to say." Via grew distant, her mind elsewhere for a moment.  
"What does that mean?" Alex inquired, watching Via's expression shift— it was a feeling she knew too well— a mixture of longing, affection, regret.  
"Butter wouldn't melt in my mouth. It means exactly what you just described." Via suddenly snapped back to the present, her thoughts back in the room.  
"Must be a Brit thing." Alex smirked, glad to have Via's attention again.  
"You yanks just aren't intellectual enough to understand our dialect." said Via, giving Alex a gentle shove.  
"Uh-huh. Says the girl that moved here and _surrounded_ herself with us."

They stayed in the cabin for another week before deciding it was no longer safe. Alex was itching to find Chloe, and desperate to get out of the woods where she and David had shared their final moments together. The longer they waited, the further Chloe got, and the more anxious Alex became. Via was wiling to go along with anything Alex said. It may have only been a week, but Via had become attached to Alex, as she imagined everyone did. She was a sort of quietly magnetic person— unexpectedly kind, with a warmth that penetrated even the coldest of hearts. Her laughter seemed so easy and genuine, but Via had heard her tears late at night. She never brought them up.

"Thank you. For everything." said Via quietly. It was their final night in the cabin, a flickering candle illuminating Alex's face.. Her skin seemed to absorb the light until it began to glow itself, a soft brown, warm and inviting.  
"It was nothing." Alex waved off Via's gratitude from beside her. There was a beat of silence, each wondering what to say next.  
"Why did you help me?" Via asked finally. The question had been hanging over their heads all week. The relief of it finally being addressed was akin to the feeling of releasing a long-held breath of air.  
"I don't know." Alex answered truthfully. Via did not speak, only stared at Alex with her large brown eyes, waiting expectantly. The candlelight was reflected in her iris, black-brown in the dying light. "Honestly, I think I helped you because I don't want to be alone." Alex confessed. She was smiling, although it didn't hold the warmth of her usual wolfish grin. It was empty, superficial.  
"I understand." Via said softly. She had been sitting cross-legged on the couch, but as they spoke she had moved closer, now facing Alex instead of out to the cabin. Alex turned her head to meet Via's gaze. Her short black curls appeared a deep brown, washed out in in dim orange glow.  
"Thank you." Via whispered again, a stillness settling over them. Each girl was afraid to breathe in case of shattering the absolute silence. Slowly, Via began to move closer and closer, until mere inches separated them. Alex's vision was blurry, a mess of golden hair and golden-brown eyes that were indistinguishable at this distance. They were almost nose to nose, their foreheads touching, but there was a tension in Alex's neck, shoulders— every muscle was screaming. She clenched her jaw, eyes closed and hands balled into fists at her sides. Via gently lifted her hand, her touch feather-light as she placed it onto Alex's hip, drawing her in. There was a moment of complete stillness, a single second frozen in time before their lips touched, lightly, tenderly, but Alex pulled back almost immediately. They were still so close that their noses brushed.  
"I can't." Alex whispered, voice strangled and quiet as she tried to stop the tears from spilling onto her cheeks.  
"I know." Via whispered back, bringing one hand up to swipe away the wetness on her friend's cheek. Alex shook her head, sniffing, and Via curled into her side, settling into the crook of her arm. She let her head rest gently on Alex's collarbone, listening the thud of her own pulse in her ears, almost in time with the thud she heard with her ear pressed against Alex's chest. They both enjoyed the comfort that their closeness brought, and the shared warmth as the sun bunk below the horizon, the heat of the day dissipating like mist, the heat of the moment lingering intrusively. Absentmindedly, Alex found herself twirling a strand of golden hair between her fingers as she let her tears escape.

 **A/N:** **I really want you to like the new characters as well as the well-known, unconditionally-loved-fandom-wide ones, so I wrote this chapter. Don't worry, it's back to Chloe and Clem next time, and they might run into a few more familiar faces. Who knows? I also hope you don't think that Alex is over David's death so quickly- that's 100% not the case. She's just one to mask her feelings with humour and basically not deal with anything ever; she prefers to mourn quietly. Finally: don't attack me about the Undertale thing. Please. It was good, but holy shit the fandom is... dedicated. I'm just a lowly farmer please don't hurt me.**

 **Until next time ;)**  
 **-Vulpixels xoxo**  
P.S. Concerning typos: sorry. don't have a beta but I'm pretty certain there aren't any. Tell me if you spot one, I will correct it ASAP.


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